Apparatus for positioning, stacking, and dispensing cotton tie buckles



. BOYD Aug. 11, 1964 J, 3,144,169

APPARATUS FOR POSITIO G, STACKING, AND DISPENSING COTTON TIE BUCKLES 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 2, 1961 NVENTOR ATTORNEY d555, J'Bom AIK Aug.11, 1964 Filed May 2, 1961 J. J. BOYD 3,144,169 APPARATUS FORPOSITIONING, STACKING,'AND DISPENSING COTTON TIE BUCKLES 5 Sheets-Sheet2 ATTORNEY Aug. 11, 1964 J. J, BOYD 3,144,169

APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING. STACKING, AND DISPENSING COTTON TIE BUCKLESAug. 11, 1964 J. J, BOYD 3,144,169

APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING, STACKING, AND DISPENSING COTTON TIE BUCKLES 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 2, 1961 INVENTOR e/Ziffif/ J 50/0 J. J. BOYDAug. 11, 1964 3,144,169 APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING, STACKING, ANDDISPENSING COTTON TIE BUCKLES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 2, 1961 w\ m AV INVENTOR .jisi/w/ J50 yp BY QM gi m 80/720728 ATTORNEY United StatesPatent 3,144,169 APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING, STACKING, AND DISPENSINGCOTTON TIE BUCKLES Joseph J. Boyd, Fairburn, Ga., assignor to AtlanticSteel Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 2,1961, Ser. No. 107,214 4 Claims. (Cl. 221175) The present applicationrelates to method and apparatus for positioning for packaging cotton tiebuckles of the side opening type.

In the packaging of cotton ties it is desirable, from the customerspoint of view, to receive the cotton ties in bundles of thirty with thenecessary thirty buckles tied into each bundle. It is customary to placeall thirty buckles on one band, to one side of center on top of a bundleof ties, and to fold the other half of the band back over to cover thebuckles, thereby putting the buckles in the center of the bundle. Thebundle is then banded with three tight straps, making a neat handpackage of thirty cotton ties and thirty buckles.

The thirty buckles, being approximately 2" x 2" x 4;" each, are moreeasily placed on the bands prior to folding if they are first stacked ona strip or spike of metal passing through the closed opening in eachbuckle. This flat strip of metal or spike is approximately 8" long by 1wide and thick, and is bent at right angles on one end to give a handhold, and pointed at the other end for insertion within the buckleclosed opening. A spike full of buckles is known in the trade as a clip.

In the single punch manufacture of the older type cotton tie buckle, itwas simple to let each buckle fall, as it was sheared, onto a curvedpiece of steel or flat which could pass easily through the buckle closedopening. The buckles slid down the curved piece of steel to a lower endwhere they stacked up, one against another, and were removed thirty at atime by inserting the spike into the opening and lifting them off. Theclips of buckles were then stacked in trays to be carried to thebundling operation.

In recent years the trade has gone almost entirely to a side-openingbuckle. All eiforts to catch side opening buckles in the machine on acurved blade, as had been done before, failed because of the shape ofthe buckle and because the side-opening die involved two punching orpressing stages, instead of one. Early efforts to stack side openingbuckles outside of the die failed due to the configuration of thebuckle.

The present invention overcomes these problems and also removes thebuckle positioning equipment from the die press itself where the heavyshock loads disturb adjustments and create maintenance problems.Additionally, the present method affords almost 100 percent inspectionof the buckle positioning operation.

According to the present invention, side opening buckles are flatlyconveyed upon two or more belts variantly rotated so as to turn or pivotthe buckles throughout a substantially horizontal plane. At an end pointof rotation of these belts a flipper disc is supported in verticalalignment with the side openings of the buckles and rotated so as toengage these side openings as each buckle is delivered by said variantlyrotated belts. The disc includes in one side surface an annular groovewhich is engageable with a complementary protuberance upon said buckles.As buckle and disc engage, the disc flips or lifts up the buckle from ahorizontal to a vertical plane and conveys the buckle onto an upstandingblade. The blade is vibrated so as to convey the buckles away from theturning and flipping operation. At the end of the blade metering meansand irnpaling means may be employed for individually packaging thebuckles. It is believed that novel features of the invention reside inthe 3,144,169 Patented Aug. 11, 1964 combined employment of variantlyrotated belts to horizontally pivot the buckles, the employment of meansto flip the buckles from horizontal to vertical position and theemployment of vibrating blade means to convey the buckle away from theturning and flipping operation.

Accordingly, it is an object of invention to provide a method forrecovering side opening buckles from a die press and verticallypositioning said buckles.

Another object of invention is to provide a method and apparatus forhorizontally pivoting cotton tie buckles as received from a die press.

Another object of invention is to provide a method and apparatus forflipping a cotton tie buckle from horizontal to vertical position.

Another object of invention is to provide a combined means for conveyinga cotton buckle from a die press operation into vertically positionedrelationship for packaging in bundles of predetermined number.

Yet additional objects of invention will become apparent from theensuing specification and attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partially fragmentary side elevation of the proposedapparatus, showing buckles 14 being conveyed upon vibrating blade 18away from flipper disc 17;

FIG. 1A is a partially fragmentary side elevation of die press 19,showing belt 12 horizontally conveying buckles 14 to the turning andflipping operation illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a top plan of the apparatus illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 2a is a top plan of the die press and conveyor belt apparatusillustrated in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan, partially fragmentary showing belts 15and 16 horizontally turning buckles 14 and flipper disc 17 engaging theside opening of said buckles prior to lifting or flipping said bucklesto vertical position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the operation illustrated inFIG. 3 and showing flipper disc 17 flipping buckle 14 upon vibratingblade 18; and

FIG. 5 is an end elevation taken along section line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 1A, punch or die press 10 punches buckles14 and drops them one at a time on conveyor belt 12 passing through die13. Buckles 14 are conveyed horizontally upon belt 12 down to turner 21,which contains belts 15 and 16 rotated at variant speeds. Belts 15 and16 are caused to move at slightly different speeds by different sizedpulleys 24 and 25 positively fastened to shaft 26. Shaft 26 is driven bymotor and gear unit 27 through chain 28. This drive, of course, isconventional. Belt 16 moves faster than belt 15 thereby causing thebuckles 14 to turn or pivot horizontally and aligning the buckleslot-side opening 34 with flipper disc 17. Disc 17 flips buckles 14 intovertical position and deposits buckles 14 upright on the thin, flatvibrating blade 18. Vibrator 19 affixed to vibrating table 41 causesbuckles 14 to move down blade 18 to stop 20 which blocks them. Afterthirty or more buckles have accumulated, the operator presses handle 11which pivots stop 20 downward and causes gauge 22 to slice ofi thirtybuckles. The thirty buckles slide to the end of blade 18 and against apin 23 where they may be speared by a spike inserted through the buckleclosed opening 37 and lifted off as a clip of buckles.

Adjusting knobs 29 permit quick setting of belt guides 32 and 33, thusadjusting the degree of horizontal pivot of the buckles relative toflipper disc 17 Buckle size and lots vary slightly from different dies;some variation in widths may occur between buckles from the same die. Nomaterial variation ever occurs in dimension D shown in FIG. 3, onbuckles from the same die, since slot 34 is punched and buckles 14 aresheared simultaneously. Scrap pan 30, belt tightener 31, and otherconstruction features are minor requirements which may be dictated fromthe maintenance and operating needs.

As previously described flipper disc 17 is used to lift or flip buckles14 from a horizontal plane to a vertical one. Disc 17 is clamped solidbetween the two pulleys 24 and 25 and of course rotates at shaft 26speed. Although various means of flipping buckles 14 may be employed, apreferred means is described below.

Buckle 14 is carried forward at a speed and is caused to turn or pivothorizontally by the difference in velocity of the two belts (V V Asillustrated in FIG. 3 and after diagonally opposed corners 45 of thebuckles strike the side guides 32 and 33, slot 34 is aligned with thedisc 17 and buckle 14 is positioned to thread on the rotating disc 17.The sloping shoulder 36 of the slot 34, now acts as a cam forcing buckle14 to turn about corner 38 hooking boss 39 into slot 40 in one face ofdisc 17 This action locks buckle 14 to disc 17, causing buckle 14 torotate with disc 17 As soon as buckle 14 leaves the confines of theguides 32 and 33 its locking action ceases, but it has been given aninitial rotational velocity which flips or lifts buckle 17 into avertical position where it is stripped from disc 17 by blade 18.

Blade 18 was formed to fit buckle slot 34 and is in clined for gravityfeed of buckle 14 from disc 17. Blade 18 is mounted upon vibrating table41 which is actuated by vibrator 19 causing buckles 14 to feed away fromthe disc 17. Optionally, blade 18 may be a hardened ground steel flat 3"wide by thick by 36" long. It has been found that a buckle with theproper unbalance will stand vertically when supported by blade 18engaging slot 34 and may be conveyed a great distance without fallingover or dropping off. Other means, such as a chute, may be used to putthe buckles on the blade.

Side-opening buckles 14 are punched in two stages, in-

cluding a shear. The first stage punches the closed opening 37, thesecond stage punches the slot 34 and shears buckles 14 from the fullwidth of material. There are short, long, narrow and wide buckles tocontend with. There are one-half, one quarter, and one eighth buckles,and buckles with no holes or with holes out of place. Perfect buckles,as well as culls, fall out of the shear onto belt 12 which flatlyconveys buckles 14 onto parallel belts 15 and 16. The short pieces orculls fall between the belts 15 and 16 into the scrap pan 30. Blankbuckles and those with holes out of place Will not thread on flipperdisc 17 and will fall off into scrap pan 30. The few bad buckles whichdo get onto blade 18 are easily lifted oif by hand and dropped manuallyinto scrap pan 30.

, Blade 18 may be thought of as a conveyor with selfcontained vibratoryforces of suflicient magnitude to convey the buckle three feet or ahundred. It might be used to convey buckles 14 up hill or aroundcorners, by the proper application of vibratory force. In theillustrated apparatus, blade 18 is used to move the buckles 14 away fromthe disc 17 rapidly enough to prevent interference with the next buckleon the disc, and to stack the buckles one against the other for gaugingand removal.

As will be seen from the foregoing, two variantly rotated belts areemployed to horizontally turn or pivot a buckle in combination-with discmeans for flipping the buckle into a vertical plane and an uprighthorizontal blade withvibratory force for conveying the buckle intopackaging position. Manifestly, various other means and modifications ofthese particular members may be employed without departing from thescope and spirit of invention, as defined in the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for positioning tie buckles of the sideopening type havinga protrusion extending partially across said opening, comprising:

(a) a buckle turner, including at least two parallel belts moved atdifferent speeds throughout a substantially horizontal plane so as toturn buckles resting thereon in one direction;

(b) conveyor means flatly introducing said buckles,

side opening leading, upon said belts;

(c) guide means positioned on both sides of said belts so as to positionsaid side opening of said buckles by limiting turning of said buckles;

(d) a vertical flipper disc positioned medially of said belts andaligned with said side openings and rotated adjacent an end of saidturner, said disc having an annular groove in one face thereof near theouter edge to be aligned with said protrusion, and complenientallyengagable therewith, said buckle frictionally gripping said disc to beflipped thereby from a horizontal position on the turner to a verticalposition; and

(e) a vibrating blade juxtaposed and aligned with said disc and saidside openings to receive buckles from said disc in said verticalposition and to remove said buckles.

2. ,An apparatus for positioning of buckles as in claim 1, saidvibrating blade having metering means pivoted thereto and delivering, oneach operation, a pre-determined number of buckles from the stack formedon the blade.

3. An apparatus for positioning cotton tie buckles of the side openingtype having a protrusion extending partially across said opening,comprising:

(a) a turner including at least two parallel substantially horizontalbelts moved at different speeds about two or more horizontally disposedshafts so as to turn said buckles resting thereon in one direction in ahorizontal plane;

(b) guide means mounted on either side of said belts so as to positionsaid side opening of said buckles by limiting horizontal pivoting orturning of said buckles;

(c) conveyor means flatly introducing said buckles,

side opening leading, upon said belts;

(d) a vertical flipper disc supported upon one of said horizontal shaftsmedially of said belts and aligned with said side openings of saidbuckles and rotated with said belts, said disc having an annular groovein one face thereof near the outer edge to be complementally engagablewith said buckle protrusion; said buckle frictionally gripping said discto be flipped thereby from a horizontal position on the turner to avertical position;

(e) a vibrating blade juxtaposed and aligned with said flipper disc andsaid side openings to receive buckles from said disc in said verticalposition and to remove said buckles; and

(f) means pivoted to said blade delivering on each operation apre-determined number of buckles from the stack formed on the blade.

4. Apparatus for positioning cotton tie buckles as in claim 3, includingtensioning means engaging said belts moved at different speeds.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING TIE BUCKLES OF THE SIDEOPENING TYPE HAVINGA PROTRUSION EXTENDING PARTIALLY ACROSS SAID OPENING, COMPRISING: (A) ABUCKLE TURNER, INCLUDING AT LEAST TWO PARALLEL BELTS MOVED AT DIFFERENTSPEEDS THROUGHOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE SO AS TO TURN BUCKLESRESTING THEREON IN ONE DIRECTION; (B) CONVEYOR MEANS FLATLY INTRODUCINGSAID BUCKLES, SIDE OPENING LEADING, UPON SAID BELTS; (C) GUIDE MEANSPOSITIONED ON BOTH SIDES OF SAID BELTS SO AS TO POSITION SAID SIDEOPENING OF SAID BUCKLES BY LIMITING TURNING OF SAID BUCKLES; (D) AVERTICAL FLIPPER DISC POSITIONED MEDIALLY OF SAID BELTS AND ALIGNED WITHSAID SIDE OPENINGS AND ROTATED ADJACENT AN END OF SAID TURNER, SAID DISCHAVING AN ANNULAR GROOVE IN ONE FACE THEREOF NEAR THE OUTER EDGE TO BEALIGNED WITH SAID PROTRUSION, AND COMPLEMENTALLY ENGAGEABLE THEREWITH,SAID BUCKLE FRICTIONALLY GRIPPING SAID DISC TO BE FLIPPED THEREBY FROM AHORIZONTAL POSITION ON THE TURNER TO A VERTICAL POSITION; AND (E) AVIBRATING BLADE JUXTAPOSED AND ALIGNED WITH SAID DISC AND SAID SIDEOPENINGS TO RECEIVE BUCKLES FROM SAID DISC IN SAID VERTICAL POSITION ANDTO REMOVE SAID BUCKLES.